afk
/eɪ.ɛf.keɪ/
Very CommonAway from keyboard. Signals you are temporarily unavailable or not paying attention.
Originally literal. Now used loosely to mean unavailable for any reason, not just being at a computer.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | going afk for like 10 mins, don't start without me | The person is stepping away and asking others to wait. | x, 2022 |
| 02 | sorry was afk, what did i miss | Returning after being away and catching up on conversation. | |
| 03 | teammate went afk in ranked, we lost 4v5 the whole game | A player stopped participating mid-game, leaving the team shorthanded. | x, 2023 |
| 04 | my mom called me afk for dinner rip | Had to stop what they were doing because of an offline interruption. | tiktok, 2023 |
Use it when
- You are stepping away and want people to know not to expect a reply.
- You are in a game and need to pause activity for a moment.
- Someone asks where you were and you explain you were away.
Do not use it when
- You mean you are permanently unavailable or quitting.Use “logging off” instead.
- You mean you are busy but still present.
afk vs brb
afk
afk signals you are stepping away from your device, no guaranteed return time.
VS
brb
brb implies you will be back in a minute or two.
Origin and context
Abbreviation that emerged from early online chat rooms and IRC in the 1990s. Became standard in gaming communities and has remained in use ever since.
- First seen
- 1990s
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/afkUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0
Related slang
brbirloffline